Biography

Biography – Søren Bebe

A leading pianist on the European jazz and contemporary music scene, Copenhagen-based Søren Bebe is most often compared to fellow Scandinavians, Tord Gustavsen and the late Esbjörn Svensson. Ask Søren who has influenced him and the names that come up are likely to include Oscar Peterson, then Keith Jarrett and, more recently, Aaron Parks. As for non-pianists, his number one would be Kenny Wheeler. But, ultimately, Søren’s delicacy of touch – both as a composer and pianist – is, of course, his own.

Says the US jazz journal, All About Jazz: “Bebe certainly belongs to the tradition of lyrical pianists that goes from Erroll Garner and Bill Evans through Keith Jarrett. What Bebe adds to the lyrical tradition of the piano is a sense of folk-like simplicity, with mourning melodies blossoming like shy night-flowers”

Søren’s recording catalogue to date includes five albums with the Søren Bebe Trio, the most recent of which is the critically acclaimed Home (2016). The album consists of 11 original pieces and is mixed and mastered in Rainbow Studio in Oslo by legendary sound-wizard Jan Erik Kongshaug.

Søren’s busy touring schedule has included most of Europe, as well as the US, China, Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Brazil and Morocco. Along the way, he’s performed at international jazz festivals like Hong Kong, Jarasum (in Korea) and SXSW (South By Southwest) in Austin, Texas.

Born in the Danish city of Odense in 1975, Søren had his first piano lesson at the age of eight. In 2004, after seven years of study with, among others, the highly respected Swedish jazz pianist Lars Jansson, Søren graduated from the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus (Denmark) with an advanced postgraduate diploma in music for exceptional soloists.